Louisiana Ex Rel. Folsom v. Mayor and Administrators of New Orleans

Citations

• 109 U.S. 285
• 3 S. Ct. 211
• 27 L. Ed. 936
• 1883 U.S. LEXIS 972

Syllabus

<p>Constitutional Law — Contract—Judgment—Municipal Corporation — Tort.</p> <p>1. The right to demand reimbursement from a municipal corporation for damages caused by a mob, is not founded on. contract. It is a statutory right, and may be given or taken away at pleasure.</p> <p>2. The fact that a statutory right to demand reimbursement from a municipal corporation for damages caused by a mob has been converted into a judgment does not make of the obligation such a contract as is contemplated in the provision of Article I. Section 10 of the Constitution, that no State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.</p> <p>3. The term “contract,” as used in the Constitution, signifies the agreement of two. or more minds for considerations proceeding from one to the other, to do or not to do certain acts.</p> <p>4. To deny to a municipal corporation the right to impose taxes to such an extent as to make it impossible to pay a judgment recovered against it for injuries done by a mob is not depriving the owner of the judgment of property within the meaning of the Fourteenth ■ Amendment to the Constitution.</p>